Rail transport in Thailand
The railway network of Thailand is managed and operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). History Interest in rail transport in Thailand can be traced to when King Rama IV was given a gift of a model railway from Queen Victoria. SRT was founded as the Royal State Railways of Siam (RSR) in 1890. Construction of the Bangkok-Ayutthaya railway (71 km), the first part of the Northern Line, was started in 1891 and completed on May 23, 1892. The Thonburi-Phetchaburi line (150 km), later the Southern Line, was opened on June 19, 1903. The Northern Line was originally built as standard gauge, but in September 1919 it was decided to standardize on meter gauge and the Northern Line was regauged during the next ten years. On July 1, 1951, RSR changed its name to the present State Railway of Thailand. In 2005 SRT had 4,070 km of track, all of it meter gauge. Nearly all is single-track, although some important sections around Bangkok are double or triple-tracked and there are plans to extend this. Issues The SRT has long been popularly perceived by the public as inefficient and resistant to change. Trains are usually late, and most of its equipment is old and poorly maintained. The worst financially performing state enterprise, the SRT consistently operates at a loss despite being endowed with large amounts of property and receiving large government budgets; it reported a preliminary loss of 7.58 billion baht in 2010. Recurring government attempts at restructuring and/or privatization throughout the 2000s have always been strongly opposed by the union and have not made any progress. Operators All inter-city rail transportation is managed by the State Railway of Thailand, a government agency responsible for rail infrastructure investment as well as freight and passenger services. In Bangkok, the BTS Skytrain is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company Limited (BTSC) under a concession granted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) but the investment for the structure and system were fully supported by BTSC. The underground system is operated by Bangkok Metro Company Limited (BMCL), while whole project investments were shared by Mass Rapid Transit Authorities (MRTA) and BMCL, which all civil structures was provided by government sector and the system was provided by private sector (BMCL). The deal of contract between BMCL and MRTA are under the concession agreement for 25 years operation. Network Thailand has 4,431 kilometers of meter gauge railway tracks not including mass transit lines in Bangkok. All national rail services are managed by the State Railway of Thailand. The four main lines are the Northern Line, which terminates at Chiang Mai Station, the Northeastern Line, which terminates at Ubon Ratchathani Station and the Laos border at Nong Khai Station, the Eastern Line, which terminates at the Cambodian border at Aranyaprathet Station, and the Southern Line, which terminates at the Malaysian border at Padang Besar Station and Su-ngai Kolok Station. Rail links to adjacent countries ]] * Malaysia - yes - same meter gauge * Laos - yes - meter gauge across Mekong River on Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge * Cambodia - yes - disused (being rebuilt) * Myanmar - no - defunct - (see Death Railway). But projected extension will rebuild the route. Rail transport in Bangkok Main: Rail transport in Bangkok Commuter rail Main: Bangkok Commuter train Rapid transit systems Main: Rapid Transit in Thailand Bangkok is currently served by three rapid transit systems: the BTS Skytrain, the underground MRT and the elevated Airport Rail Link. Although proposals for the development of rapid transit in Bangkok had been made since 1975, leading to plans for the failed Lavalin Skytrain, it was only in 1999 that the BTS finally began operation. References External links * http://www.railway.co.th/home/ * http://portal.rotfaithai.com/index.php Category:Content Category:Thai Railway Category:Browse